{"id":710,"date":"2014-12-07T16:25:53","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T20:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/?p=710"},"modified":"2014-12-07T17:03:38","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T21:03:38","slug":"migration-and-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/2014\/12\/07\/migration-and-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Migration and Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
Where did the summer go? \u00a0The departure of\u00a0most of our swallows and flycatchers indicates the fall migration has begun. Thr\u00a0flood gates will soon be open as warblers, vireos and hummingbirds will leave us followed by sparrows and hawks. \u00a0Today’s column is a potpourri of short items based on the theme of migration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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We delight in the spring arrival of migrating birds and claim them for our own. \u00a0But when you think about it, the many species of birds that migrate from the tropics to nest in temperate North America spend only a minority of their time on our continent. \u00a0A Ruby-throated Hummingbird nesting in Maine is here for only about three months. \u00a0Migration to and from Costa Rica might require another two months or so. \u00a0These hummingbirds are really Central American birds that grace us with their presence for a short time each year. \u00a0The same can be said for Bobolinks in Argentina and Bolivia, Cliff Swallows throughout South America, Baltimore Orioles throughout Central America and numerous other migratory\u00a0species.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Birding for songbirds during fall migration requires more effort than is needed during the spring migration. \u00a0Fall migrants do not sing and have molted into their less conspicuous basic plumage. \u00a0The phrase “confusing fall warblers” is so true.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Although most passerines do not migrate as a flock, migrants in a particular patch tend to gather in mixed-species flocks as they forage to fatten up for the next migratory leg. \u00a0Fall birding in a forest is therefore hit-or-miss with often long periods of misses. \u00a0A good trick \u00a0is to find the chickadees. \u00a0Migrant warblers and vireos often forage with the chickadees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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As an example, I was recently at West Quoddy State Park in Lubec with a couple of friends. \u00a0We had walked over a mile with scarcely any birds. \u00a0At the margin of the bog, I heard a couple of chickadees. \u00a0I began pishing (saying the word pish quickly – if you don’t know the technique of pishing, do a YouTube search for pishing). \u00a0As expected, the chickadees approached to investigate the source of the pishing but so did about 25 warblers. \u00a0We were surrounded by Black-and-white Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat and a Red-eyed Vireo for good measure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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We know that population numbers of many of these migratory songbirds are declining. \u00a0One of the most important drivers in these declines is the cutting of tropical forests. \u00a0A particular problem is cutting of timber on protected conservation land. \u00a0These parks and preserves are difficult to police with limited staff and resources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The monitoring of illegal timbering is done mainly with aerial or satellite images. \u00a0Environmental managers may not get the photos for several days by which time\u00a0the timber thieves have moved on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Rainforest Connection, a start-up company in California, has developed a way to repurpose old smartphones to detect illegal timber activities quickly. \u00a0A smartphone is covered in a water-proof case and powered with a solar battery. \u00a0The phone is mounted high on a tree. A sensitive microphone is attached to the phone. \u00a0The smartphone detects chain saw noises and gunshots. \u00a0Each five minutes, the smartphone sends a packet of data to a central server. \u00a0If the server detects the sound of chain saws, local enforcement officers, alerted\u00a0by cell phone,\u00a0can catch the ecocriminals in the act. Similarly, recordings of gunshots can aid in the capture of poachers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Each phone can monitor an area of about one square mile. \u00a0Cell phone coverage has penetrated deeply into equatorial forests throughout the world. \u00a0The service plan costs for these phones are modest, only a few dollars a month in most tropical countries. \u00a0Such a cost seems like a bargain in exchange for preventing the loss of thousands of dollars of wood or endangered animals. \u00a0I suspect we will see the widespread use of this technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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[Originally published on September 13, 2014]<\/div>\n\n
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Where did the summer go? \u00a0The departure of\u00a0most of our swallows and flycatchers indicates the fall migration has begun. Thr\u00a0flood gates will soon be open as warblers, vireos and hummingbirds will leave us followed by sparrows and hawks. \u00a0Today’s column is a potpourri of short items based on the theme of migration. We delight in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[429],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":712,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions\/712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}